Rough start in the first, coughing up two runs to the Jays. But he settled in nicely and cruised along until the top of the fifth, when Joe Torre used a quick hook to take the kid out before he did any more damage. All in all, it was a good debut for Hughes, even if he took the L.

Ken Davidoff compliments the fans' warm reception of Hughes, and adds that it's time to send Kei Igawa to Triple-A to see if he can work on his stuff. Now that Jeff Karstens is back (and starting again this weekend), we agree. No need to send him to the bullpen, he's clearly not ready to face major league hitters. Hughes has much better control, and his 96-mph fastball gives the Yanks a fighting chance. Igawa can't keep them in games, and we're guessing Torre would only use him in mop-up duty. Let Kei pitch every five days at Scranton and work out the kinks. Torre is admittedly unsure of Igawa's immediate future.

Mike Vaccaro counters with his thoughts, saying that the Yankees' six game losing streak shouldn't be Hughes' problems just yet. He feels the kid deserves a chance to season himself further in the minors. It's likely he will get sent back down (even if we don't want him to), but probably not until Mike Mussina is ready to return.

We hope Hughes isn't hanging his head too low this morning. If the Yanks don't score, they can't win even if Cy Young himself were out there. Hughes isn't solely to blame for the loss. He'll hopefully get another shot a few days from now. Even the folks up in Toronto could see his potential.

Johnny Damon liked what he saw, telling The Record, "Bringing Philip Hughes up was a great thing for us. I love what I saw of him."

The Yanks will be out for a little revenge tonight when the BoSox come to the Stadium for a weekend set. At least they'll have most of their original roster back this time around. Andy Pettitte (1-0, 1.78) will throw tonight, weather permitting. He had his last start postponed courtesy of the rainout the other night. And he disappointed reporters with his attittude toward the Red Sox, saying he doesn't care what team he's facing, or who is at the plate.

Boston will send Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-2, 4.00) to the mound. According to the Post, Hideki Matsui is ready to take Dice on. He last faced the Dice-man five years ago in Japan. Matsui recalled the last time he faced Dice-K, "I went 3-for-3... but those three were strikeouts."

This is one tired, overworked bullpen. Kat O'Brien discusses their workload today, saying they've logged more innings per game (4.0) than any other pen except Florida's. It's tough to try and spread four innings a night evenly among all the relievers. There are three Yankee relievers in the top 10 in the majors in appearances (Myers, Proctor, and Vizcaino have all made 13 appearances). Bruney is 14th, he's made 12.

Newsday discusses some STATS, Inc. research that indicates Boston pitchers have beaten up on Yankee batters way more than the other way around. From the 2000 season on, the Yanks have been hit 80 times by a Boston pitcher, while Yankee hurlers have hit Boston batters only 48 times. All of that means, well, pretty much nothing. But it's at least interesting. Kind of.